Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Side Slip Cloche

Laura Irwin is an incredible designer.  In her book Boutique Knits, she has some beautiful patterns.  This one is the Side Slip Cloche knit with Berroco Vintage.  I am not sure who will get this one as a gift but I know it will be adorable on someone.  It would be cute with a variety of brooches or buttons added to the brim above the ruffle.  You could even change the look by changing out the accessories.  I have been uploading my photos so look for more projects soon.

Lotus Hat

I thought that this pattern (Lotus Hat on Ravelry) might be a little difficult but it was really easy.  This hat was made for a sweet family friend who has lost most of her hair due to chemo.  It is 100% cotton and very soft.  I have been stalking Ebay for an antique hat mold that wasn't completely out of my price range.  Looking at the Styrofoam wig stand, I am thinking that there must be a more attractive way to display my hats but  I haven't found one yet.  Let me know if anyone has any suggestions.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

First Real Lace

There are a lot of firsts in my latest project.  First time using lace weight yarn, first nupps ( that is a story within itself), first twisted loop backward cast on, first short rows, and first purl 2 tog bind off.  The pattern is Annis from Knitty and the yarn is Miss Babs Yet.  There is a sad story on Miss Babs blog about her unfortunate smoke incident but happily, she is dying fiber again.  Don't you just love the name of her company?   I will be ordering from her again.  Back to the nupps - which I considered leaving out but I am always up for a good challenge and a challenge they were.  These are basically 7 stitches in 1 stitch and the tricky part is purling 7 together on the back row..  Luckily I found a video on Utube that uses a crochet hook otherwise I would have given up.  Even with the crochet hook, those rows took me a long time.   Not to mention the initial cast on of a whopping 363 stitches.  It was worth the effort and I will probably make another one which should go faster the second time around.  I love to watch the stitches open up with wet blocking but get impatient waiting for the project to dry.  The left part of the bottom photo is the curling mess that it looks like before blocking.  I am ready for Fall and a break from this 99 degree heat!

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Figs

Being raised in Houston, we always had fresh figs in the summer that I took for granted.  My Grandmother, Aunt and Mom made preserves every year.  At one point, my little brother would not touch a piece of bread unless it was covered with fig preserves.  Who would have thought that they would become a delicacy served in only the finest restaurants.  These are from my Dad's tree that he managed to pick before the deer and the birds munched on them.  Aren't they pretty?